Traditional advertisement does not work anymore. More and more companies are in the constant quest to find new approaches for promoting their products/services. In this article, we are going to speak about ways of promoting brands without making your clients bored to death. Thanks to advanced technologies, PR specialists can access many ways to create eye-catching and engaging online advertisements. Nowadays, you can find a lot of affordable ads opportunities. Therefore you should forget about traditional advertisements that cost a fortune and switch your attention to sponsored content. If you have a chance to fill a missing gap for ads in a creative and smart way.
The Definition of Sponsored Content
Sponsored content is usually written by third parties: a blog, influencer, or media publication. It can be presented in different forms, such as eBooks, videos, whitepapers, infographics, etc. Your potential clients find such content on an official publisher’s website.
Your sponsored content should fit the subject of the site/platform and the main interests of its readers. Many PR experts write sponsored content for Facebook. Sponsored content can be also called native advertising.
How Can A Company Benefit from Sponsored Content?
When you see sponsored content, it looks totally different from traditional ads. In fact, it looks like the typical content we see all the time on various blogs and websites. If your content is interesting, many people will read it. As a result, you boost brand awareness, motivate people to share your content, and increase sales ultimately. It is your opportunity to reach huge online audiences. Besides, you choose the publications, so you control the audience. You will not find a better scenario for promoting your services. Your brand gets direct access to new clients and bloggers/publishers get huge revenue, so there are benefits for both sides.
What Are the Pitfalls of Sponsored Content?
Ethics concerns
The only problem you may face working with sponsored content is the fact that it might be deceiving. It is a common practice to write content, which resembles news. As it always happens in journalism, you have to take the ethics into consideration. Brands just want to share information regarding essential issues, but some people will treat it as corporate propaganda. Most publications put sponsored content separately from the news by mentioning by whom it was sponsored. However, for some readers it is not enough. So, you should be ready to confront some critics that you use consumers to get your brand advertisements ranked as news posts.
Google is against sponsored content
Let’s be clear and admit that Google is against sponsored content. The company just does not like to mix real news articles with sponsored content. Google has warned all publications to publish such content on the Google News platform. If publications do not follow the rule, there are some serious consequences.
Some Samples of Successful Sponsored Content
It is not difficult to find sponsored content online. Many well-known brands publish their materials attracting new readers and potential clients.
Huffington Post: you can find a separate section, which is 100% sponsored by different brands. They have a chance to share their stories.
BuzzFeed: many advertisers use this platform to attract new clients with useful articles. You can find sponsored content from companies such as General Electric.
Forbes: the magazine cooperates with FedEx, letting its employees share relevant articles with their huge audience. Their sponsored content focuses on business issues.
Mashable: you will find interesting posts related to technology. They are sponsored by a well-known brand “Snapdragon”.
